WINGLESS INSECTS. 395 



tight, the trunk is bound fast, and the animal it incapable of dis- 

 engaging itself ; but it more frequently suffers i.'om its gluttony, 

 since it gorges to such a degree that it is crushed to pieces by the 

 slightest impression. 



The Spider. — The aranea, or spider, is a genus of apterous 

 insects. The mouth is furnished with short horny jaws; lip 

 rounded at the apex.; ' feelers two, curved, jointed, and sharp at 

 the tip. The eyes are eight, rarely six ; no antennae : its feet are 

 eight; and behind, it is furnished with teats for spinning. They 

 fix the ends of the threads by applying these nipples to any sub- 

 stance, and the thread lengthens in proportion as the animal re- 

 cedes from the place. They are able, by means of their claws, to 

 reascend the threads, with great ease and rapidity, much in the 

 same manner as sailors warp up a rope. 



Spiders differ much in their appearance, size, and habits. 

 Some are smooth, and others are covered with hair. It is said that 

 in America there is a kind more than forty times larger than those 

 of Britain. Many spiders are exceedingly venomous. Their bite 

 is small, is not only dangerous, but in some cases mortal. Spiders 

 lay from five to six hundred eggs. It is astonishing the instinctive 

 ingenuity they employ for ensnaring flies, the objects of their prey. 

 When a fly is caught in the web, the spider, ■which was before 

 concealed in ambush, in a moment rushes from its hiding-place, 

 darts upon it, firmly fixes its claws upon it, and then sucks out all 

 its juice, which soon terminates its life. 



The Bied Spidee is a native of Surinam, and was brought 

 into notice by that indefatigable naturalist, Madame Merian. Her 

 account of it is very short. She relates that it carries about with 

 it a habitation, resembling the cocoon of some of the moths, and 

 that it is armed with sharp fangs and inflicts dangerous wounds, at 

 the same time injecting into the wound a poisonous liquid. She 

 also tells us that it feeds principally upwn ants, but that in their 

 absence it drags little birds out of their nests, and then, as she 

 pathetically observes, " sucks all the blood out of their poor little 

 bodies." Here, however, it is generally supposed that Madame 

 Merian has been imposed upon, as is evidently the case in another 



